according to myth king Laius and queen Jocasta are his real parent. In an attempt to thwart a prophecy that said his child would grow up to murder his father and marry his mother, Laius left his son to die on a mountainside. The baby was found by shepherds and raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope in the city of Corinth. This son grew to manhood and learned from the oracle at Delphi that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Thinking Polybus and Merope were his true parents, he left them in order to protect them. Heading to Thebes, the "son" of Polybus met an older man in a chariot coming the other way on a narrow road. The two quarreled over who should give way, which resulted in the young man killing the stranger and continuing on to Thebes.
